Arantxa Rus takes home Hua Hin, Kiki Bertens loses in first round

Arantxa Rus takes home Hua Hin title

Arantxa Rus has won an ITF title for the 14th time in her career. The number 138 of the world defeated American Jacqueline Cako with 6-1, 6-3 in Hua Hin, Thailand.

It is Arantxa Rus second title of the season. Earlier this year she won the tournament in Middelburg, The Netherlands. Last year she also won the title in Hua Hin. ITF Tournaments are the 2nd highest tournaments on the women’s tennis calendar.

Arantxa Rus, who defeated Jacqueline Cako, ranked 210 on the world rankings, last year as well, won 6 games in a row starting with a 2-1 lead. And she never got in trouble after that. She won 5 out of 6 break points.

Kiki Bertens loses in first round Peking

Kiki Bertens lost in the first round in the WTA tournament of Peking. German Andrea Petkovic proved too strong and defeated Kiki Bertens in straight sets 6-4, 6-0.

In the first set 25 year old Bertens recovered from an early break and balanced the game to 4-4. But after that her poor display caused her to lose the match. With her fifth double fault she gave away the match to Andrea Petkovic after 70 minutes. With a flaming forehand Petkovic won the match 6-4, 6-0.

Bertens, who is ranked much higher than Petkovic (30 / 107), also lost her two previous matches versus Petkovic. Petkovic beat her in the quarters of Roland Garros 2014 and in 2017 in Rosmalen in the first round. So the odds of Bertens winning versus Petkovic were low to start with according to Betulator.